Published 19:08 IST, November 29th 2019
Chief Economic Advisor Subramanian: 'GDP likely to pick up in Q3'
Indian Government's Chief Economic Advisor KV Subramanian on Friday expressed hope that the GDP rate is likely to pick up in Q3.
Indian Government's Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) KV Subramanian on Friday stated that he was hopeful that the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will likely go up in the third quarter of the current financial.
"We are saying again that the fundamentals of the Indian economy continue to be strong. GDP is expected to pick in quarter three," Subramanian said.
According to the Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty, the equity capital flows have been positive in 2019. The government data that came out on Friday displayed a slower economic growth at 4.5% in the July to September quarter, in comparison to the 7.1% growth rate in the same quarter last year.
The Indian economy witnessed a weak performance in the last quarter with the GDP rate going down to 5%. As per a statement released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the slowdown in Q2 FY20 is believed to be a result of a sharp dip in the manufacturing sector and the agricultural output.
The weak growth is also caused by a gloomy industrial output data which contracted 0.4% during the quarter against 3% expansion in the past three months.
The unseasonal heavy rainfall in August and September and the delayed monsoon withdrawal also affected the mining and construction sectors. The unseasonal rainfall also led to a lower demand for electricity from the household and agricultural sectors of the country.
Eight-core industry show a decline of 5.8% in October
The government data showed that the eight-core industries highlighted a 5.8% decline in October from the 5.2% decline in September.
According to an official statement by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, "The combined index of eight core industries stood at 127 in October 2019 which declined by 5.8% as compared to the index of October 2018. Its cumulative growth during April to October 2019-20 was 0.2%."
The eight-core industries where a decline was seen, include coal, crude oil, natural gas, steel, cement, electricity, fertilizer, and refinery products. The core industry index makes up 40.27% of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
Coal production declined by 17.6% in October versus the de-growth of 20.5%. Electricity also dragged down the index as it reported a jump of 12.4% compared to a plunge of 3.7% in September. Crude oil production declined by 5.1% in October 2019 during the same month of last year. Cement production declined by 7.7% but fertilizer production increased by 11.8%. Petroleum refinery production also saw a marginal increase of 0.4%.
(With inputs from ANI)
Updated 20:13 IST, November 29th 2019